All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Allies Warn Trump of Conservative Revolt Unless He Backs Off Sessions – The New York Times

So is the new communications chief going to fire these guys – ROTFLMAO: “Among those urging Mr. Trump to spare Mr. Sessions have been Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff; Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s chief strategist; and Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, according to officials who asked not to be named describing internal deliberations.”

Texas reports first local Zika case of 2017 | CIDRAP- Drip, drip, drip – pandemic start?

Texas health officials today announced the state’s first probable local Zika infection of the year, which also appears to be the first local case reported in the United States for 2017.The patient is a Hildago County resident who had not traveled outside the area or had any other risk factors, the Texas Department of State Health Services (TSDHS) said in a press release. Hildago County, located in the Rio Grande Valley, is in far southern Texas on the border with Mexico.The virus was probably transmitted by a mosquito bite in South Texas some time in the last few months, and lab tests show that the person is no longer at risk of spreading Zika to mosquitoes.In April the TDSHS expanded its recommendations for testing pregnant women and people with Zika infections in six South Texas counties, which led to thousands of tests being conducted and to the identification of the newly identified case.

Source: Texas reports first local Zika case of 2017 | CIDRAP

Inoreader – Protests continue after newly installed al-Aqsa cameras

“The Israeli government has announced the presence of a large number of security forces, along with the cameras, for the coming six months to secure the site … These measures are neither necessary nor proportional to their purpose,” Yara Jalajel, a Palestine researcher at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, told Al Jazeera. “They exceed what Israel, the occupying power, is allowed to do to ensure safety and public order. These measures seem to aim to ensure control and impose a de facto sovereignty over the site, which Israel does not have under the law.”Usama Halabi, a lawyer and writer on Israeli surveillance practices, said that surveillance of Palestinians is already the status quo in the Old City.“I don’t understand the issue surrounding the cameras. It is definitely an intensification of the surveillance through more technically advanced cameras, but they can already see who goes in and out of al-Aqsa and the Old City,” Halabi told Al Jazeera.“The camera feeds into their computer systems and they can find out everything about me already. They can extract my whole family tree in minutes,” he added. “On a daily basis, I see tens of young men in court who they bring in after a week or two of seeing them on the surveillance cameras, and accuse them of throwing stones and they present the video proof. Some of the soldiers and guards in the Old City have built-in cameras in their headgear, and every group of soldiers that is stationed in the Old City has a handheld camera with them to film confrontations.”Still, for Palestinians, the issue of installing cameras on the entrances to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound is yet another manifestation of Israeli control over the holy site.“Agreeing to the new measures means agreeing to Israeli control over al-Haram al-Sharif and over Palestinians even more,” Shaheen said. “What matters to us is that Israel is sticking its fingers into the eyes and throats of Palestinians, and we must reject it.”

Source: Inoreader – Protests continue after newly installed al-Aqsa cameras

Julie Negrin Will Die If the ACA is Repealed | Dame Magazine

You probably don’t know Julie Negrin’s name or her story, but if Trumpcare passes the Senate, she’s likely to become a viral sensation. The 45-year old nutritionist isn’t exaggerating when she says she will die if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed and replaced by Trumpcare. She’s been saying that since the GOP announced its replacement health care plan; after all, without insurance, or with substandard insurance, her body’s already compromised systems will collapse. Over the past week, however, she’s been saying she’ll die under Trumpcare for a different reason. Negrin has made a big, life-changing decision. If Trumpcare passes, she vows to become a martyr for the health care cause by suspending all medical treatment and, as she put it in a Facebook post, “leverag[ing] the fuck out of my slow, sad, suffering, death.” Her hope? “To activate a movement to restore our healthcare system.”It takes thousands of dollars each month to keep Negrin alive, and with her current ACA plan through Blue Shield*, insurance covers most of her medical expenses, even mental health appointments (“There’s a lot of trauma with having organs cut out”) and some naturopathic services. Without ACA coverage and under Trumpcare, her pre-existing conditions will most certainly mean she won’t be able to obtain insurance – not any she can afford, anyway. And there’s no way she can pay out of pocket for the dozens of monthly medical appointments and costly treatments, as well as the check-ups she needs to make sure her multiple cancers remain in remission and that her body hasn’t been invaded by new ones.

Source: Julie Negrin Will Die If the ACA is Repealed | Dame Magazine

Why are we terrifying our neighbors’ children and deporting their parents? Kathleen Baka (Opinion) | cleveland.com

– I am a resident of Lake County. I buy plants for my yard from Lake County growers. My grass is cut, and beds mulched and weeded, by Lake County landscapers. I buy food at Lake and Geauga County farm markets.I do not know if the owners of these businesses employ undocumented workers, and I will not ask. I do know, from watching them work, that these workers, who have deep tans and often do not speak English, are very hard workers, out there in the boiling heat all day long, sometimes even on Sundays, working for those of us with more money and less incentive to do it ourselves.They are in stores buying goods with the money they earn working for low wages, at jobs we more privileged people do not want. They pay rent with the same money. They quietly go about their lives, helping to keep growers, landscapers, grocery stores, drugstores, big box stores, malls, and property owners in business. In our communities, especially Painesville, they contribute a significant amount to the local economies.

Source: Why are we terrifying our neighbors’ children and deporting their parents? Kathleen Baka (Opinion) | cleveland.com